This very old classic TV Christmas Episodes of The Garry Moore Show from the 1950’s is presented in their original form. These have not been seen in 50 years. The audio has been remastered and is very good considering the age of these TV shows. Filled with skits, songs, dancing, and lots of funny banter, even the commercials which in those days were worked into the show. This takes you back to the days when TV was king.

This title would lead you to believe that it is from the Carol Burnett Show era with Tim Conway, Lyle Waggoner, and Harvey Korman. It’s not at all. Many will remember that Carol Burnett started out as a regular on The Garry Moore Show long before she became a household name. But I suppose the makers of the DVD figured not near as many people would remmber Garry Moore. So they intentionally dropped the original title “The Garry Moore Show Presents:” to make it appear to be from the Carol Burnett Show era. Unfortunately Carol has a few small parts and appears just a handful of times. But if they had advertised it honestly, this is a great look back at a few decades earlier when Carol was but a kid, and TV variety shows were just finding their way. These are touching series, and it is very full of the holiday spirit. There are some really great appearances here, and some great music. This is a good look back at the classic early days of TV, and well worth it, but I took off some stars for the dirty trick of removing a reference to what the show actually is in the title. Don’t be fooled thinking you are getting something else. Some of the little bits Carol does, on the other hand, are very funny, and give you a glimpse of the comedienne inside waiting to burst out in just a few years. I found it enjoyble as I remember those days.

Darius (Aubrey Plaza) is an intern at a magazine. One of the writers gets the assignment of investigating a strange ad requesting someone as a partner to “travel back in time, safety not guaranteed, bring you own weapon.” He brings Darius who is very anxious to go, and another reluctant intern and sets off on the journey. When they get there, the writer is much more interested in reconnecting with an old flame, while Darius spends time getting to know Kenneth (Mark Duplass) the strange man who has a wish to travel back in time to save the life of an ex-girlfriend he feels he let die.

This is one of those rather strange independent films. But this is actually an interesting film. It’s slow and plodding, but it seems everything has a purpose, and each of the characters is developed before our eyes. We can see the ulterior motives of everyone, and as things things go by we get to know them little by little.

This is one of those films where you never know exactly what’s going on, and as soon as you’re sure you do, things go off in a different direction. It’s unnerving as you try to figure out what’s exactly going on. Is this guy Kenneth dangerous, or just extremely crazy. He’s one paranoid freak, that’s for sure, thinking everyone is after him. Aubrey takes on her first lead role in a motion picture (You might remember her from Parks and Recreation on TV) and she does a wonderful job.

Then there is the ending. Truly, you’re never going to know what’s actually happening, and that’s exactly the way it should be. Often this type of film ends up being so artsy that it’s unwatchable. This one doesn’t. This is actually a very interesting, though strange, kind of story, and one that I really enjoyed. For something totally out of the ordinary, check this one out!

Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano) is a writer. He wrote the great American novel when he was very young, but is now stuck. He’s suffering from writer’s block, and is trying to work through it. As a project given by his therapist, and based upon a dream he had of a loving and understanding girl named Ruby, he begins writing about her, only to find she has come to life and is living in his house. She’s actually real, but he can control her every action, even her personality, by what he writes. But he finds that it’s more difficult to create the perfect girlfriend than he thought.

This is an interesting film. It’s not at all like I expected. I could have been very childish and “Zapped” like, where he writes her into many situations, but this story is very much deeper than that. This is much more like a Twilight Zone episode that has been expanded to full length. In fact, there was an episode a lot like this where a writer dictates the perfect woman to replace his nagging wife. This is very similar to that episode, but with the extended time, we get to look much deeper into mind of both Calvin, and his muse, Ruby, who is a real person who is quite confused at why she acts like she does.

It’s actually a very good character study. There are some lesser characters that have a lot of development as well, such as Calvin’s therapist and his brother who is unhappy in his relationship and very jealous of the power Calvin has to make Ruby into whatever he would like. The problem is that, as in real life, no matter what we think we want, we find we don’t really want it after all. It takes the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the sweet and the bitter, to appreciate any of it at all. This is very poetic, and I’m sorry to be writing that way, but that’s the message of this entire film. A lighthearted and very enjoyable look at the human existence. Very well done, this is thinker. It’s a film that will let you keep thinking long after you’ve seen it. I really enjoyed this story.

Tom Solomon (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) have been together for a year, living together in San Francisco. Tom has planned a very special night to propose to Violet, and she accepts. But setting the date is a whole ‘nother problem. Tom is a sous chef at a local restaurant and he is running the place while Violet is an experimental psychologist who is hoping for a grant. When that falls through, she takes a job in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tom supports her, and gives up his dream, but has a hard time fitting in and unable to find a decent job. Years go by, and by the time Violet is ready, Tom may have lost his will to get married. This is a romantic real-life story of two people who love each other, but just can’t seem to make it to the end together.

This was a really cute story, that is oddly happy and sad. The pain that these two have to go through is really real, and these two seem to pull it off perfectly. I am amazed at how good Emily Blunt is getting. She’s really good in this movie. It has really good fun, and really touching heartbreak. There are lots of colorful supporting characters, but these two pull off the lead so well, that it would be good anyway. So the addition of the rest of the cast just adds to our enjoyment.

If you’re in the mood for a cute little romantic comedy, this is a pretty good one. It was refreshing, and very enjoyable. I really liked it and recommend it.

Kate (Torrey DeVito) is a psychiatris in a children’s mental institute who is caught in an earthquake. A young man, Nick (Callard Harris) protects her and saves her from harm in the earthquake, but he falls and hits his head and knocks himself out. When he wakes, he thinks he’s Santa Claus, so Kate takes him to the hospital to care for him. While he’s there, he brings Christmas spirit to all the kids, and to the whole place except for Kate’s boss who hates Christmas. As Nick gets closer to the kids, he looks for a way to reach them, especially one troubled little girl, but all the while the sparks begin to fly between Kate and Nick and it becomes very clear they like each other a lot.

This final new 2012 Christmas Movie premier is a pretty nice little film. Torrey DeVito may look familiar to you, as she’s appeared in many different TV series and has a pretty decent career. She’s really a pretty good actress and this movie has enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. The patients each have their own issues and troubles. This should be another repetative, “Santa gets hit in the head” movie, but it’s actually quite unique in it’s own way. I suspect this one will be back next year, any maybe once or twice more this season, and if you get a chance to catch this new Lifetime premier, it’s well worth the time and error to see it. It’s a really sweet little gem.